3)+ICTs

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[|Information Age] [|Information Revolution] [|Internet Governance]

 =Information Age= From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Jump to: [|navigation], [|search] A Visualization of the various routes through a portion of the [|Internet]. The **information age**, also commonly known as the **computer age** or **information era**, is an idea that the current age will be characterized by the ability of individuals to transfer [|information] freely, and to have instant access to knowledge that would have been difficult or impossible to find previously. The idea is linked to the concept of a **digital age** or **digital revolution**, and carries the ramifications of a shift from traditional [|industry] that the [|industrial revolution] brought through [|industrialization], to an [|economy] based on the manipulation of information. Commonly seen as an outflow from the [|space age], capitalizing on the [|computer microminiaturization] advances of that effort, with a fuzzy transition spanning from the advent of the [|personal computer] in the late 1970s to the [|internet] reaching a [|critical mass] in the early 1990s, and the adoption of such technology by the public in the two decades after 1990. The Information Age has allowed rapid global communications and networking to shape modern society.[|[][|1][|]] [[|hide]]
 * ==Contents==
 * [|1] [|The Internet]
 * [|2] [|Progression]
 * [|3] [|The impact of the information age on the workforce]
 * [|3.1] [|The impact on jobs and income distribution]
 * [|3.2] [|Automation, productivity, and job loss]
 * [|3.3] [|The rise of information-intensive industry and "the new entrepreneurialism"]
 * [|4] [|The impact of the information age on language and culture]
 * [|4.1] [|Interpreting technology: "the medium is the message"]
 * [|5] [|Innovations]
 * [|6] [|See also]
 * [|7] [|References]
 * [|8] [|External links] ||

The Internet
The [|Internet] was conceived as a fail-proof network that could connect computers together and be resistant to any one point of failure; the Internet cannot be totally destroyed in one event, and if large areas are disabled, the information is easily rerouted. It was created mainly by [|DARPA]; its initial software applications were [|e-mail] and computer file transfer. Though the Internet itself has existed since 1969, it was with the invention of the [|World Wide Web] in 1989 by British scientist [|Tim Berners-Lee] and its implementation in 1991 that the Internet truly became a global network. Today the Internet has become the ultimate platform for accelerating the flow of information and is, today, the fastest-growing form of media, and is pushing many, if not most, other forms of media into [|obsolescence]. > What's more is that the very notion of our actions, our endeavors and especially our mistakes, being perfectly archived is somewhat terrifying to say the least, no matter what level of accepted virtue or morality we may possess. There is a stronger sense of urgency to obtain success and well-being in these modern times. People are more intellectually engaged than ever before, because of the [|Internet]. > – [|Lallana, Emmanuel C.] and [|Margaret N. Uy], //[|The Information Age]//

Progression
The proliferation of the smaller and less expensive personal computers and improvements in computing power by the early 1980s resulted in a sudden access to and ability to share and store information for more and more workers. Connectivity between computers within companies led to the ability of workers at different levels to access greater amounts of information. In the 1990s, the spread of the Internet caused a sudden leap in access to and ability to share information in businesses, at home and around the globe. Technology was developing so quickly, that a computer costing $3,000.00 in 1997, only cost $2000.00 two years later and the same caliber of machine cost only $1000.00 the following year. Concurrently during the 1980s and 1990s in the United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and Western Europe, there was a steady trend away from people holding Industrial Age manufacturing jobs. An increasing number of people held jobs as clerks in stores, office workers, teachers, nurses, etc. The industrial world was shifting into a [|service economy]. [//[|citation needed]//] Eventually, [|Information and Communication Technology]—computers, computerized machinery, fiber optics, communication satellites, Internet, and other ICT tools—became a significant part of the economy. Microcomputers were developed and many business and industries were greatly changed by ICT. [//[|citation needed]//] [|Nicholas Negroponte] captured the essence of these changes in his 1995 book, //[|Being Digital].//[|[][|2][|]] His book discusses similarities and differences between products made of atoms and products made of bits. In essence, one can very cheaply and quickly make a copy of a product made of bits, and ship it across the country or around the world both quickly and at very low cost. The term has been noted as identifying an era when "ideas about the computer, the internet, or digital resources seem to influence policy decisions more than social concerns about access, privacy or preservation."[|[][|3][|]] Thus, the term "Information Age" is often applied in relation to the use of cell phones, digital music, high definition television, digital cameras, the Internet, cable TV, and other items that have come into common use in the past 30 years. || This article **needs additional [|citations] for [|verification].** Please help [|improve this article] by adding [|reliable references]. Unsourced material may be [|challenged] and [|removed]. //(November 2009)// ||
 * [[image:http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/9/99/Question_book-new.svg/50px-Question_book-new.svg.png width="50" height="39" caption="Question book-new.svg" link="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Question_book-new.svg"]]

The impact on jobs and income distribution
The information age has impacted the workforce in several ways. First, it has created a situation in which workers who perform tasks which are easily automated are being forced to find work which involves tasks that are not easily automated. Second, workers are being to forced to compete in a global job market. This creates problems for workers in industrial societies. Jobs traditionally associated with the middle class (assembly line workers, data processors, foremen, and supervisors) are beginning to disappear, either through [|outsourcing] or [|automation]. Individuals who lose their jobs must either move up, joining a group of “mind workers” (engineers, attorneys, scientists, professors, executives, journalists, consultants), or settle for low-skill, low-wage service jobs. The “mind workers” form about 20% of the workforce. They are able to compete successfully in the world market and command high wages. Conversely, production workers and service workers in industrialized nations are unable to compete with workers in developing countries and either lose their jobs through outsourcing or are forced to accept wage cuts.[|[][|4][|]] In addition, the internet makes it possible for workers in developing countries to provide in-person services and compete directly with their counterparts in other nations. This has had several major consequences: Growing income inequality in industrial countriesThe polarization of jobs into relatively high-skill, high wage jobs and low-skill, low-wage jobs has led to a growing disparity between incomes of the rich and poor. The United States seems to have been more impacted than most countries; [|income inequality] started to rise in the late 1970,’s, however the rate of increase rose sharply in the 21st century. [|Income inequality in the United States] has now reached a level comparable to that found in South America.[|[][|5][|]] Increased opportunity in developing countriesWorkers in developing countries have a competitive advantage which translates into increased opportunities and higher wages.[|[][|6][|]] The full impact on the workforce in developing countries is complex; there are downsides. (see discussion in section on [|globalization]). The globalization of the workforceIn the past, the economic fate of workers was tied to the fate of national economies. For example, workers in the United States were once well paid in comparison to the workers in other countries. With the advent of the information age and improvements in communication, this is no longer the case. Because workers are forced to compete in a global job market, wages are less dependent on the success or failure of individual economies.[|[][|4][|]]

Automation, productivity, and job loss
There is another way in which the information age has impacted the workforce: automation and computerization have resulted in higher productivity coupled with net job loss. In the United States for example, from Jan 1972 to August 2010, the number of people employed in manufacturing jobs fell from 17,500,000 to 11,500,000 while manufacturing value rose 270%.[|[][|7][|]] It initially appeared that job loss in the industrial sector might be partially offset by the rapid growth of jobs in the IT sector. However after the recession of March 2001, the number of jobs in the IT sector dropped sharply and continued to drop until 2003.[|[][|8][|]] Even the IT sector is not immune to this problem.

The rise of information-intensive industry and "the new entrepreneurialism"
Industry is becoming more information-intensive and less labor and capital-intensive (see [|Information industry]). This trend has important implications for the workforce; workers are becoming increasingly productive as the value of their labor decreases. However, there are also important implications for capitalism itself; not only is the value of labor decreased, the value of capital is also diminished. In the classical model, investments in [|human capital] and [|financial capital] are important predictors of the performance of a new venture.[|[][|9][|]] However, as demonstrated by [|Mark Zuckerberg] and //[|Facebook]//, it now seems possible for a group of relatively inexperienced people with limited capital to succeed on a large scale.[|[][|10][|]]

Interpreting technology: "the medium is the message"
The information age has changed us profoundly. It has changed our culture, it has changed our language, and it has even changed the way we think. However, before investigating these ideas further, it is necessary to consider the question of interpretation; how are we to understand the implications of technology? The relationship between mind and technologyThere are many theories which suggest how to [|interpret technology]. Most of these theories involve the relationship between technology and society; prompting questions about agency and determinism. The school of thought that [|Thorstein Veblen] called “[|technological determinism]” interprets technology as a force largely beyond our control that shapes our history and culture.[|[][|11][|]] The implication that our tools somehow control us led to a reaction; in the **instrumentalist** view, technology is interpreted as a means to an end. [|James Carey], in //Communication as Culture// writes: “Technology is technology, it is a means for communication and transportation over space, and nothing more.”[|[][|12][|]] A recent book by [|Nicholas Carr], //The Shallows: What the Internet is Doing to Our Brains//, suggests a problem with the both the determinist and instrumentalist positions; they all view technology as something apart from //mind//. Carr points out that technology can actually affect the way the brain is wired. For example, experiments have shown that the brains of literate and illiterate individuals differ in many ways. Literacy not only affects how we understand language, it also affects how we process visual signals, how we reason, and how we form memories.[|[][|13][|]] The changes in our brain brought about by technology are, in a sense, irreversible. The brain is //plastic//; when we develop new patterns of thought, the brain forms new structures of neural connections. The old neural loops do not stick around; they are reused by the brain in different ways. This does not mean that we can’t relearn old habits; it simply means that the longer we use new patterns of thought, the harder is to go back. In Carr’s words, “//plastic// does not mean //elastic//.”(p. 34) Cognitive science has shown us we can no longer view technology as something separate from mind. The relationship of mind and technology is dynamic: through use of our minds, we change technology, and in return, technology changes our minds. It might be useful to reconsider the work of [|Marshal McLuhan] in this light. Marshal McLuhan and his theory of extensionsMarshal McLuhan, in //[|Understanding Media: The Extensions of Man]//,[|[][|14][|]] suggested that technological innovations should be understood, not in terms of their content, but in terms of how they change society. His famous one-liner “[|the medium is the message]” should be understood this way. He explored this idea metaphorically by suggesting that media act as //extensions// of the human body. For example, the automobile could be viewed as an extension of the feet; it allows man to travel places in the same manner as the feet, only faster and with less effort. According to McLuhan, most people understand this intuitively, however they tend not to realize that every extension implies an //amputation//. The development of the automobile reduces the need for a walking culture, which in turn influences the development of society as a whole. McLuhan also warns us of the dangers of over-extending technology. When a medium like the automobile becomes over-extended, the resulting amputations (carbon emissions, obesity.) may outweigh the benefits of getting places faster. According to McLuhan, when we create a new technology, we are changing ourselves; something has been amputated. When a technology becomes over extended, it is not possible to simply go back. For example, when the automobile becomes over-extended, we cannot go back to a walking culture because we have forgotten how to walk. McLuhan states that "every process pushed far enough tends to reverse or flip suddenly",[|[][|15][|]] but this flip is never a literal return to the past, instead it involves a qualitative change, something radically new that seeks to recover something that has been lost. In McLuhan’s words, “we use the new to do the old.”[|[][|16][|]]

Innovations

 * [|Analytical Engine] - draft - 1837
 * [|Stereoscope] - 1849
 * [|Z3] - first general-purpose digital computer - 1941
 * [|Atanasoff–Berry Computer] - electronic digital computer - 1942
 * [|Colossus computer] - first programmable, digital, electronic computer - 1943
 * [|ENIAC] general purpose electronic digital computer - 1946
 * The mathematical framework of the [|theory of information] - 1948
 * [|Transistor] - mark in the electronic development - 1947
 * The formulation of the [|Hamming code] - 1950
 * Earliest form of the [|Internet] - 1969
 * [|Email] - 1971
 * [|Personal computer] - 1974
 * [|Laptop] - 1980s
 * [|World Wide Web] - 1989
 * [|PDA] - 1990s
 * Online [|gaming communities] - 1990s, widespread public application early 2000s
 * [|Cellular phones] - 1984, widespread public application late 1990s and early 2000s
 * [|Webcams] 1990s mainstreamed 2000s
 * [|Digital Television] 1990s, widespread public application 2000s
 * [|Broadband] mainstreamed 2000s
 * [|Wireless networking] - early 2000s
 * [|GPS] mainstreamed mid-2000s
 * [|Satellite radio] - circa 2003
 * [|Bluetooth] - early-to-mid 2000s
 * [|DAB] -Digital Radio 2004
 * [|Digital Audio Player] - widespread public application early 2000s
 * [|Digital Video Recorders] (c. 1999) widespread public application early-to-mid-2000s
 * [|HDTV] widespread public application mid-to-late 2000s
 * [|Smartphones] widespread public application mid-to-late 2000s

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 =Information revolution= From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Jump to: [|navigation], [|search] The term **information revolution** (sometimes called also the "information//al// revolution") describes current [|economic], social and technological trends beyond the Industrial Revolution. Many competing terms have been proposed that focus on different aspects of this societal development. The British [|polymath] [|crystallographer] [|J. D. Bernal] (1939) introduced the term "//scientific and technical revolution//" in his book //The Social Function of Science// in order to describe the new role that science and technology are coming to play within society. He asserted that science is becoming a "productive force", using the [|Marxist] [|Theory of Productive Forces]. After some controversy, the term was taken up by authors and institutions of the then-[|Soviet Bloc]. Their aim was to show that [|socialism] was a safe home for the scientific and technical ("technological" for some authors) revolution, referred to by the acronym **STR**. The book //Civilization at the Crossroads//, edited by the Czech [|philosopher] [|Radovan Richta] (1969), became a standard reference for this topic. [|Daniel Bell] (1980) challenged this theory and advocated //[|Post Industrial Society]//, which would lead to a [|service economy] rather than [|socialism]. Many other authors presented their views, including [|Zbigniew Brzezinski] (1976) with his "Technetronic Society". [[|hide]]
 * [[image:http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/f/f4/Ambox_content.png width="40" height="40"]] || This article **may contain [|original research]**. Please [|improve it] by [|verifying] the claims made and adding [|references]. Statements consisting only of original research may be removed. More details may be available on the [|talk page]. //(July 2008)// ||
 * ==Contents==
 * [|1] [|Information in social and economic activities]
 * [|2] [|The theory of information revolution]
 * [|3] [|Measuring and modeling the Information Revolution]
 * [|4] [|See also]
 * [|5] [|References]
 * [|6] [|External links] ||

Information in social and economic activities
The main feature of the information revolution is the growing economic, social and technological role of [|information]. Information-related activities did not come up with the Information Revolution. They existed, in one form or the other, in all human societies, and eventually developed into institutions, such as the [|Platonic Academy], [|Aristotle]'s [|Peripatetic school] in the [|Lyceum], the [|Musaeum] and the [|Library of Alexandria], or the schools of [|Babylonian astronomy]. The [|Agricultural Revolution] and the [|Industrial Revolution] came up when new informational inputs were produced by individual innovators, or by scientific and technical institutions. During the Information Revolution all these activities are experiencing continuous growth, while other information-oriented activities are emerging. Information is the central theme of several new sciences, which emerged in the 1940s, including [|Shannon]'s (1949) //[|Information Theory]// and [|Wiener]'s (1948) //[|Cybernetics]//. Wiener (1948, p. 155) stated also: "information is information not matter or energy". This aphorism suggests that information should be considered along with [|matter] and [|energy] as the third constituent part of the Universe; information is carried by matter or by energy. We can distinguish between [|information], [|data], [|knowledge], and [|wisdom]. [|Data] comes through research and collection. [|Information] is organized data. [|Knowledge] is built upon information. [|Wisdom] is knowing what to do with the knowledge--knowing how to synthesize the knowledge and make it useful to [|humankind]. Data and information are easily transferable; knowledge built by a person is not certain that it can be transferred to another. Following this, the notion of a "[|knowledge society]" cannot be defined cogently. A //wisdom society// would have to be a [|futuristic] society in which all human beings were educated to the highest level. Information is then further considered as an economic activity, since firms and institutions are involved in its production, collection, exchange, distribution, circulation, processing, transmission, and control. Labor is also divided into physical labor (use of muscle power) and informational labor (use of intellectual power). A new economic sector is thereby identified, the [|Information Sector], which amalgamates information-related labor activities.

The theory of information revolution
The term //information revolution// may relate to, or contrast with, such widely used terms as [|Industrial Revolution] and [|Agricultural Revolution]. Note, however, that you may prefer mentalist to materialist paradigm. The following fundamental aspects of the theory of information revolution can be given (Veneris 1984, 1990): From a different perspective, [|Irving E. Fang] (1997) identified six 'Information Revolutions': writing, printing, mass media, entertainment, the 'tool shed' (which we call 'home' now), and the Information Highway. In this work the term 'information revolution' is used in a narrow sense, to describe trends in communication media.
 * 1) The object of economic activities can be conceptualized according to the fundamental distinction between [|matter], [|energy], and [|information]. These apply both to the object of each economic activity, as well as within each economic activity or enterprise. For instance, an industry may process matter (e.g. iron) using energy and information (production and process technologies, management, etc).
 * 2) Information is a [|factor of production] (along with [|capital], [|labor], [|land (economics)]), as well as a [|product] sold in the [|market], that is, a [|commodity]. As such, it acquires [|use value] and [|exchange value], and therefore a [|price].
 * 3) All products have [|use value], [|exchange value], and informational value. The latter can be measured by the information content of the product, in terms of innovation, design, etc.
 * 4) Industries develop information-generating activities, the so-called [|Research and Development] ([|R&D]) functions.
 * 5) Enterprises, and society at large, develop the information control and processing functions, in the form of management structures; these are also called "[|white-collar workers]", "[|bureaucracy]", "managerial functions", etc.
 * 6) Labor can be classified according to the object of labor, into information labor and non-information labor.
 * 7) Information activities constitute a large, new economic sector, the information sector along with the traditional [|primary sector], [|secondary sector], and [|tertiary sector], according to the [|three-sector hypothesis]. These should be restated because they are based on the ambiguous definitions made by [|Colin Clark] (1940), who included in the tertiary sector all activities that have not been included in the primary (agriculture, forestry, etc.) and secondary (manufacturing) sectors. The [|quaternary sector] and the [|quinary sector of the economy] attempt to classify these new activities, but their definitions are not based on a clear conceptual scheme, although the latter is considered by some as equivalent with the [|information sector]. [|[1]]
 * 8) From a strategic point of view, sectors can be defined as [|information sector], [|means of production], [|means of consumption], thus extending the classical [|Ricardo]-[|Marx] model of the [|Capitalist mode of production] (see [|Influences on Karl Marx]). [|Marx] stressed in many occasions the role of the "intellectual element" in production, but failed to find a place for it into his model.
 * 9) [|Innovations] are the result of the production of new information, as new products, new [|methods of production], [|patents], etc. [|Diffusion of innovations] manifests saturation effects (related term: [|market saturation]), following certain cyclical patterns and creating "economic waves", also referred to as "[|business cycles]". There are various types of waves, such as [|Kondratiev wave] ( 54 years), [|Kuznets swing] (18 years), [|Juglar cycle] (9 years) and [|Kitchin] (about 4 years, see also [|Joseph Schumpeter]) distinguished by their nature, duration, and, thus, economic impact.
 * 10) [|Diffusion of innovations] causes structural-sectoral shifts in the economy, which can be smooth or can create crisis and renewal, a process which [|Joseph Schumpeter] called vividly "[|creative destruction]".

Measuring and modeling the Information Revolution
Porat (1976) measured the Information Sector in the US using the [|input-output analysis]; [|OECD] has included statistics on the Information Sector in the economic reports of its member countries. Modeling the Informational Revolution. Source: Veneris (1984) Veneris (1984, 1990) explored the theoretical, economic and regional aspects of the Informational Revolution and developed a [|systems dynamics] [|simulation] [|computer model]. These works can be seen as following the path originated with the work of [|Fritz Machlup] who in his (1962) book "The Production and Distribution of Knowledge in the United States", claimed that the "knowledge industry represented 29% of the US gross national product", which he saw as evidence that the Information Age has begun. He defines knowledge as a commodity and attempts to measure the magnitude of the production and distribution of this commodity within a modern economy. Machlup divided information use into three classes: instrumental, intellectual, and pastime knowledge. He identified also five types of knowledge: practical knowledge; intellectual knowledge, that is, general culture and the satisfying of intellectual curiosity; pastime knowledge, that is, knowledge satisfying non-intellectual curiosity or the desire for light entertainment and emotional stimulation; spiritual or religious knowledge; unwanted knowledge, accidentally acquired and aimlessly retained.

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 =Internet governance= From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Jump to: [|navigation], [|search] Policies and mechanisms for **Internet governance** have been topics of debate between many different Internet stakeholders, some of whom have very different opinions for how and indeed whether the Internet should facilitate free communication of ideas and information. [[|hide]]
 * ==Contents==
 * [|1] [|Background]
 * [|2] [|Definition]
 * [|3] [|History]
 * [|3.1] [|Formation and growth of the network]
 * [|3.2] [|Governors]
 * [|3.3] [|Globalization and governance controversy]
 * [|4] [|See also]
 * [|4.1] [|Internet bodies]
 * [|4.2] [|United Nations bodies]
 * [|5] [|References]
 * [|5.1] [|Further reading]
 * [|6] [|External links] ||

Background
The Internet is a [|globally distributed network] comprising many voluntarily interconnected autonomous networks. It operates without a central governing body. However, to maintain interoperability, all technical and policy aspects of the underlying core infrastructure and the principal [|name spaces] are administered by the [|Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers] (ICANN), headquartered in [|Marina del Rey, California]. ICANN is the authority that coordinates the assignment of unique identifiers for use on the Internet, including [|domain names], Internet Protocol (IP) addresses, application port numbers in the transport protocols, and many other parameters. Globally unified name spaces, in which names and numbers are uniquely assigned, are essential for the global reach of the Internet. ICANN is governed by an international board of directors drawn from across the Internet technical, business, academic, and other non-commercial communities. The government of the United States continues to have the primary role in approving changes to the [|DNS root zone] that lies at the heart of the domain name system. [//[|citation needed]//] ICANN's role in coordinating the assignment of unique identifiers distinguishes it as perhaps the only central coordinating body on the global Internet. On 16 November 2005, the [|World Summit on the Information Society], held in [|Tunis], established the [|Internet Governance Forum] (IGF) to discuss Internet-related issues.

Definition
The definition of Internet governance has been contested by differing groups across political and ideological lines. One of the main debates concerns the authority and participation of certain actors, such as national governments, corporate entities and civil society, to play a role in the Internet's governance. A Working group established after a United Nations-initiated World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) proposed the following definition of Internet governance as part of its June 2005 report: //Internet governance is the development and application by Governments, the private sector and civil society, in their respective roles, of shared principles, norms, rules, decision-making procedures, and programmes that shape the evolution and use of the Internet.//[|[][|1][|]]Law professor Yochai Benkler developed a conceptualization of Internet governance by the idea of three "layers" of governance: the "physical infrastructure" layer through which information travels; the "code" or "logical" layer that controls the infrastructure; and the "content" layer, which contains the information that signals through the network.[|[][|2][|]]

History
To understand how the Internet is managed today, it is necessary to know some of the main events of Internet governance.

Formation and growth of the network
The original [|ARPANET], one of the components which evolved eventually into the Internet, connected four Universities: [|University of California Los Angeles], [|University of California Santa Barbara], [|Stanford Research Institute] and [|Utah University]. The IMPs, interface minicomputers, were built during 1969 by [|Bolt, Beranek and Newman] in accord with a proposal by the US Department of Defense [|Advanced Research Projects Agency], which funded the system as an experiment. By 1973 it connected many more systems and included satellite links to Hawaii and Scandinavia, and a further link from Norway to London. ARPANET continued to grow in size, becoming more a utility than a research project. For this reason during 1975 it was transferred to the US [|Defense Communications Agency]. During the development of ARPANET, a numbered series of [|Request for Comments] (RFCs) memos documented technical decisions and methods of working as they evolved. The standards of today's Internet are still documented by RFCs, produced through the very process which evolved on ARPANET. Outside of the USA the dominant technology was [|X.25]. The [|International Packet Switched Service], created during 1978, used X.25 and extended to Europe, Australia, Hong Kong, Canada, and the USA. It allowed individual users and companies to connect to a variety of mainframe systems, including [|Compuserve]. Between 1979 and 1984, a system known as [|Unix to Unix Copy Program] grew to connect 940 hosts, using methods like X.25 links, ARPANET connections, and leased lines. [|Usenet] News, a distributed discussion system, was a major use of UUCP. The [|Internet protocol suite], developed between 1973 and 1977 with funding from ARPA, was intended to hide the differences between different underlying networks and allow many different applications to be used over the same network. [|RFC 801] describes how the US Department of Defense organized the replacement of ARPANET's [|Network Control Program] by the new Internet Protocol during January 1983. During the same year, the military systems were removed to a distinct [|MILNET], and the [|Domain Name System] was invented to manage the names and addresses of computers on the "ARPA Internet". The familiar [|top-level domains] [|.gov], [|.mil], [|.edu], [|.org], [|.net], [|.com], and [|.int], and the two-letter [|country code top-level domains] were deployed during 1984. Between 1984 and 1986 the US [|National Science Foundation] created the [|NSFNET] backbone, using [|TCP/IP], to connect their supercomputing facilities. The combined network became generally known as the Internet. By the end of 1989 Australia, Germany, Israel, Italy, Japan, Mexico, the Netherlands, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom had connected to the Internet, which now contained over 160,000 hosts. During 1990, ARPANET formally terminated, and during 1991 the NSF ended its restrictions on commercial use of its part of the Internet. Commercial network providers began to interconnect, extending the Internet. Today almost all Internet infrastructure is provided and owned by the private sector. Traffic is exchanged between these networks, at major interconnect points, in accordance with established Internet standards and commercial agreements.

Governors
During 1979 the Internet Configuration Control Board was founded by [|DARPA] to oversee the network's development. During 1984 it was renamed the Internet Advisory Board ([|IAB]), and during 1986 it became the Internet Activities Board. The [|Internet Engineering Task Force] (IETF) was formed during 1986 by the US Government to develop and promote Internet standards. It consisted initially of researchers, but by the end of the year participation was available to anyone, and its business was performed largely by email. From the early days of the network until his death during 1998, [|Jon Postel] oversaw address allocation and other Internet protocol numbering and assignments in his capacity as Director of the Computer Networks Division at the [|Information Sciences Institute] of the [|University of Southern California], under a contract from the Dept. of Defense. This function eventually became known as the [|Internet Assigned Numbers Authority] (IANA), and as it expanded to include management of the global Domain Name System ([|DNS]) root servers, a small organization grew. Postel also served as [|RFC] Editor. Allocation of IP addresses was delegated to four [|Regional Internet Registries] (RIRs): In 2004 a new RIR, [|AfriNIC], was created to manage allocations for Africa. After Jon Postel's death during 1998, the IANA became part of the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers ([|ICANN]), a newly created Californian [|non-profit corporation], initiated during September 1998 by the US Government and awarded a contract by the US [|Department of Commerce]. Initially two board members were elected by the Internet community at large, though this was changed by the rest of the board during 2002 in a little- attended public meeting in [|Accra], in [|Ghana]. During 1992 the [|Internet Society] (ISOC) was founded, with a mission to //"assure the open development, evolution and use of the Internet for the benefit of all people throughout the world"//. Its members include individuals (anyone may join) as well as corporations, organizations, governments, and universities. The IAB was renamed the [|Internet //Architecture// Board], and became part of ISOC. The Internet Engineering Task Force also became part of the ISOC. The IETF is overseen currently by the [|Internet Engineering Steering Group] (IESG), and longer term research is carried on by the [|Internet Research Task Force] and overseen by the [|Internet Research Steering Group]. During 2002, a restructuring of the Internet Society gave more control to its corporate members. At the first [|World Summit on the Information Society] ([|WSIS]) in [|Geneva] 2003 the topic of Internet governance was discussed. ICANN's status as a private corporation under contract to the U.S. government created controversy among other governments, especially Brazil, China, South Africa and some Arab states. Since no general agreement existed even on the definition of what comprised Internet governance, [|United Nations] [|Secretary General] [|Kofi Annan] initiated a [|Working Group on Internet Governance] ([|WGIG]) to clarify the issues and report before the second part of the [|World Summit on the Information Society] in [|Tunis] 2005. After much controversial debate, during which the US delegation refused to consider surrendering the US control of the Root Zone file, participants agreed on a compromise to allow for wider international debate on the policy principles. They agreed to establish an [|Internet Governance Forum], to be convened by [|United Nations] [|Secretary General] before the end of the second quarter of the year 2006. The [|Greek] government volunteered to host the first such meeting.
 * [|American Registry for Internet Numbers] (ARIN) for North America
 * [|Réseaux IP Européens - Network Coordination Centre] (RIPE NCC) for Europe, the Middle East, and Central Asia
 * [|Asia-Pacific Network Information Centre] (APNIC) for Asia and the Pacific region
 * [|Latin American and Caribbean Internet Addresses Registry] (LACNIC) for Latin America and the Caribbean region

Globalization and governance controversy
The position of the US Department of Commerce as the controller of the Internet gradually attracted criticism from those who felt that control should be more international. A hands-off philosophy by the US Dept. of Commerce helped limit this criticism, but this was undermined in 2005 when the Bush administration intervened to help kill the .xxx top level domain proposal. When the IANA functions were given to a new US non-profit Corporation called [|ICANN], controversy increased. ICANN's decision-making process was criticised by some observers as being secretive and unaccountable. When the directors' posts which had previously been elected by the "at-large" community of Internet users were abolished, some feared the worst. ICANN stated that they were merely streamlining decision-making processes, and developing a structure suitable for the modern Internet. Other topics of controversy included the creation and control of generic top-level domains (.com, .org, and possible new ones, such as .biz or .xxx), the control of country-code domains, recent proposals for a large increase in ICANN's budget and responsibilities, and a proposed "domain tax" to pay for the increase. There were also suggestions that individual governments should have more control, or that the [|International Telecommunication Union] or the [|United Nations] should have a function in Internet governance.
 * [[image:http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/1c/Wiki_letter_w_cropped.svg/20px-Wiki_letter_w_cropped.svg.png width="20" height="14" caption="Wiki letter w cropped.svg" link="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Wiki_letter_w_cropped.svg"]] || This section requires [|expansion]. ||

Internet bodies

 * [|Internet Engineering Task Force] (IETF)
 * [|Internet Assigned Numbers Authority] (IANA)
 * [|ICANN] - the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers
 * [|Internet Society] (ISOC)
 * [|Number Resource Organization]
 * [|Regional Internet Registry] (RIR)
 * [|Internet Research Task Force] (IRTF)
 * [|Internet Architecture Board] (IAB)

United Nations bodies

 * [|Internet Governance Forum]
 * [|World Summit on the Information Society]
 * [|Working Group on Internet Governance]

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